Dead Drop by Jack Patterson (reading cloud ebooks txt) 📕

Lynch sighed. “I don’t know, Detective. Does it look like I’ve got time to micromanage my people around here? I’m too busy building an empire to worry about who got what and how much. Maybe he did; maybe he didn’t. You’ll have to ask someone in accounting about that.”

“So, for the record, you’re saying you had nothing to do with it?”

“For the record, I barely know who Robert Fisher is.”

Kittrell was persistent. “So, you’re denying any involvement with Fisher in his attempt to rob Puget Sound Bank a little over a week ago?”

“I’m saying I hardly know who Fisher is, and I’d never ask him to do such a thing. If he was involved, it wasn’t on my behalf.”

Kittrell stood up. “Sorry to take up so much of your time, sir. If you ever need any help at the department, please let me know.”

Lynch chuckled. “Oh, yes. I’ve got a few suggestions for you, starting with Cal Murphy. If there’s any way you can get him tarred and feathered for suggesting that my son used HGH to make it to the high level of professional soccer in the U.S., that’d be great.”

“I’m a detective, sir, not a miracle worker.”

“Whatever you do, keep me posted. Understood?”

Kittrell nodded. “I’ll update you when I have a chance.” He stood up. “And thank you for your time, sir.”

Lynch nodded back. “And, Detective? If you still think someone else was behind it all, I know exactly where you need to turn your focus.”

CHAPTER 42

CAL MET KITTRELL DOWNTOWN at the main precinct, both men eager to share with one another what they found and discuss the case. With Quinn gone, Cal felt like he was serving more as a substitute partner than a consultant.

“Is Chief Roman still okay with me consulting on this case?” Cal asked.

“At this point, what difference does it make? I think he’d approve of a cat being my partner if it meant we could close out this case.”

“Not a dog?”

“Some guys already have dogs as partners, had to be creative with my analogy.”

Cal chuckled. “Maybe you should be the writer then.”

“I hate writing reports. I couldn’t imagine how much I’d hate trying to write a book.”

“To each his own,” Cal said, pulling out his notepad. “So, did you get a chance to listen to the recording on that phone I dropped off?”

“I’m about three hours ahead of you here and have a truckload of information to share with you. But first things first: I had Molly play the recording for me on my way back from visiting William Lynch.”

“And?”

“And it sounded like Shawn Lynch to me, but I had her do a little digging on the phone.”

“Like looking for numbers and prints?”

“A little more advanced than that, starting with the recording itself.”

Cal leaned forward in his chair. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, something sounded off about it, like it was faked.”

“And what did she find out?”

Kittrell cracked his knuckles and looked Cal in the eyes. “That conversation never happened. It was all digitally reconstructed.”

“Was there anything else on the phone of use?”

“At first Molly said it looked clean, but she took a second pass at it and found another file. People often make the mistake of thinking that when they delete something on their phone, it’s completely gone from the memory, but that’s not always the case. It’s gone forever when it gets recorded on top of. But when a phone has hardly any information stored on it, files are stored in fresh locations.”

“Meaning there was another conversation?”

Kittrell nodded and pulled out a thumb drive and then plugged it into his computer. “Listen to this.” He hit play and let the recording roll. It was Sid Westin talking with Javier Martinez.

Sid: Javy, I’ve got a friend who’s been doing a little analytics for me.

Martinez: Is it helping your game at all?

Sid: A little bit. It’s made me think about my tendencies and be more pro-active about going left more often than always going right when I have the ball in the area. But that’s not the most interesting thing he’s discovered.

Martinez: What was then?

Sid: He showed me a spreadsheet detailing games we were favored in and the final outcome.

Martinez: And that was more interesting?

Sid: Only because it was also overlaid with each player’s performance metrics. And you know what he found?

(No response from Javier)

Sid: He found that in certain games where we were favored by two goals or more, you underperformed and we only won those games by one goal, sometimes tying. And then in certain games when we were predicted to lose by two goals or more, your performance exceeded your usual metrics. Oftentimes, we won those games or tied. Then he called a friend of his who runs one of Lynch’s underground gambling rings, and you know what he found?

(Still no response from Javier)

Sid: He found that those games where you performed differently than normal, there was an above average amount of money bet on those games—which got me to thinking. I know you used to work for William Lynch and your father still does. If this is some way to get back at him, I’m going to tell you right now that it’s a dangerous game you’re playing.

Martinez: You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Sid: The numbers don’t lie, Javy. This isn’t something to play around with. Lynch is a dangerous man. You think Shawn really made this team on his own merit?

Martinez: Maybe Shawn did, and maybe he didn’t. But whatever you think I’m doing, you’re wrong.

Sid: If it happens again, I’m going to the authorities—or William Lynch himself. I’m sure he’d love to know he’s being hustled.

Martinez: I know what it might look like, but it’s not what you think. It’s complicated.

Sid: It’s always complicated—so uncomplicate it. Do the right thing. People on this team are counting on you. We want to win a championship, and we’ll never be able to with a teammate who’s jerking